Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior has begun implementing royal directives to address the status of individuals whose visas expired on or after February 25, 2026, offering temporary relief amid ongoing regional disruptions.

According to a Saudi Press Agency report, the measures apply to holders of all visit visas, including Umrah, transit, and final exit visas, who were unable to leave the kingdom due to prevailing circumstances.

Read more-Saudi’s new rule: All types of visas allow holders to perform Umrah

Under the new directives, expired visas may be extended upon request by the visitor’s host until April 18, 2026, after payment of applicable fees through the Absher platform.

Option to exit without penalties

In a significant concession, authorities also confirmed that affected visa holders may depart the kingdom directly through international exit points without needing to extend their visas or pay any fees or penalties.

“The ministry called on all beneficiaries of these directives to depart before April 18, 2026, to avoid the enforcement of applicable regulations in the kingdom against violators,” the report stated.

Officials emphasised that the initiative aims to ease travel challenges while ensuring compliance with national regulations.

Separately, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah on March 18, reiterated key deadlines for Umrah pilgrims as part of broader efforts to streamline pilgrimage logistics.

The ministry announced that the first of Shawwal marks the final date for issuing Umrah visas, while the 15th of Shawwal is the deadline for entry into the kingdom. All Umrah visa holders must depart by the first of Dhul-Qi’dah.

“These measures come in line with the leadership’s directives to care for pilgrims and ensure they can perform their rituals and return to their countries with ease and reassurance,” the ministry said.

Pilgrims were urged to review detailed instructions through the official guide.

Primark has officially opened its first UAE store at Dubai Mall, with queues stretching up to 500 metres as shoppers turned out in force for the launch.

The 7,000-square-metre site is one of Primark’s largest outside Europe, underlining the scale of its entry into the UAE market.

The opening marks the start of the brand’s UAE rollout by Alshaya Group, which is leading Primark’s expansion across the region.

“We’re so thrilled to bring a small bit of good news to Dubai. This morning, we’ve seen customer queues of 200 to 500 metres heading into the store, and we have 600 members of staff on board,” Alshaya Group CEO John Hadden told Gulf Business on Thursday morning by phone.

Hadden also moved to reassure customers over stock levels, despite ongoing disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.

“We have more than enough product because we imported almost all the product we needed for our three store launches before the crisis started. There’s no need for customers to worry at all,” he said.

He added that any potential impact would only emerge if the situation were to extend beyond three months.

The Dubai Mall launch follows Primark’s regional debut in Kuwait in October last year, and signals a broader push into the GCC under Alshaya’s partnership with the retailer.

Two additional UAE stores are set to follow, with locations planned for City Centre Mirdif in April and Mall of the Emirates in May.

Further expansion is already in the pipeline, with Primark confirming plans to open in Qatar and Bahrain by the end of 2026, taking its global footprint to 21 countries.

Founded in Dublin, Primark operates more than 450 stores worldwide and is known for its focus on affordable, trend-led fashion across clothing, accessories and homeware.

Its Middle East expansion comes amid strong demand for value retail in the GCC, supported by high mall footfall and a price-conscious consumer base.

Dubai authorities have issued a fresh warning over a surge in cyber fraud attempts involving fake QR codes, as scammers adopt increasingly sophisticated tactics to target residents.

The Dubai Electronic Security Centre (DESC) said fraudsters are exploiting the rapid spread of digital information by circulating QR codes via email that claim to offer urgent updates or essential services, according to a WAM report. However, scanning these codes can expose users to significant risks.

Read more-Encountered fraud messages in the UAE? Here’s what you need to know

“Scanning such codes may lead to the installation of malware or redirect users to malicious websites designed to steal personal and financial data,” the centre said.

Officials urged the public to remain vigilant, stressing the importance of verifying email sources before scanning QR codes and avoiding interaction with suspicious messages. Users were also advised not to enter personal information through untrusted links.

DESC highlighted the use of its “RZAM” application as an added layer of protection. The app provides real-time alerts on suspicious websites and enables users to scan links before opening them, helping to reduce exposure to cyber threats.

Fake apps and deepfake tactics on the rise

In a related warning, the UAE Cyber Security Council (CSC) cautioned against downloading fake applications, describing them as one of the most dangerous tools used in cyber fraud today.

The alert came as part of the council’s Cyber Pulse awareness campaign launched in early March. Officials said such applications often act as gateways for data theft, financial fraud and even cyber extortion.

“Avoiding the download and use of suspicious applications helps minimise risks and safeguard personal information,” the council said in its weekly advisory.

According to the CSC, fake applications have become increasingly difficult to detect, with fraudsters replicating the design, names and logos of legitimate platforms. Estimates suggest that more than 85 per cent of fake apps impersonate well-known services, making them appear credible even to experienced users.

DP World has added three new semi-automated quay cranes at its terminal in Jeddah Islamic Port, expanding capacity and strengthening its ability to handle ultra-large container vessels as shipping activity returns to the Red Sea.

The latest expansion comes as shipping activity returns to the Red Sea, strengthening the terminal’s ability to maintain reliable trade flows amid ongoing maritime security challenges.

The new cranes, each with a lifting capacity of 65 tonnes, are expected to improve berth productivity and enable the terminal to handle multiple mainline vessels simultaneously. The move supports Saudi Arabia’s ambition to position itself as a global logistics hub.

Built by ZPMC and currently undergoing commissioning, the additions increase the number of ship-to-shore cranes at the terminal from 14 to 17, with plans to expand the fleet to 22 as part of future upgrades.

DP World’s South Container Terminal spans 2,150 metres of quay length, including a deep-water berth with an 18-metre draft, allowing it to accommodate up to five ultra-large container vessels at the same time. The facility is equipped with advanced automation and modern handling systems aimed at improving turnaround times and operational efficiency.

The expansion forms part of an $800m modernisation programme that has doubled the terminal’s capacity from 1.8 million to 4 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), with a long-term target of 5 million TEUs as additional equipment is deployed in line with demand.

Mohammad Alshaikh, CEO, DP World KSA, said: “By expanding capacity and enhancing operational agility, we are helping our customers move goods more efficiently and strengthening the terminal’s ability to accommodate larger vessels and growing container volumes. While recent regional developments have brought new challenges, we are working closely with port authorities, security partners and shipping customers to ensure safe, reliable operations to keep trade moving across the Red Sea and beyond.”

In 2025, DP World Jeddah handled more than 1.3 million TEUs, more than doubling volumes year-on-year as shipping lines returned to the Red Sea corridor and weekly services increased to 38 calls.

The company has also expanded its freight forwarding operations, improving inland connectivity and enhancing access to integrated supply chain solutions across Saudi Arabia.

The investment underscores DP World’s continued focus on infrastructure, technology and operational capability to support trade growth in the Kingdom and the wider Red Sea region, aligned with Saudi Vision 2030.

On the morning of Saturday, February 28, I sent my first message to teams across Dubai, Riyadh, and Beirut. Not a strategy deck. Not a business continuity framework. Three words: stay home, stay safe.

By afternoon, missiles had been intercepted over the city. I wrote again. And the next morning. And the morning after that.

What happened next surprised me — not the crisis itself, but the corporate response to it. Across the region, brands went dark. Campaigns paused. Budgets froze. Briefs that had been live for weeks stopped mid-sentence. The instinct, almost universally, was to wait.

That instinct is understandable. It is also, as the evidence shows, a strategic mistake with measurable costs.

The Business Case Against Silence

There is a tempting logic to brand silence during geopolitical crises: say nothing, offend no one, weather the storm. Researchers call this “strategic neutrality” — the hope that staying quiet preserves optionality and avoids alienating customers on either side of a conflict. In practice, it rarely works that way.

According to the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer, staying silent on a societal issue causes most consumers to assume the worst — that a brand is complicit, or hiding something. That perception is not merely reputational. Among consumers over 61 — one of the highest-spending demographic cohorts globally — 60 per cent say they would be less likely to buy from a brand that fails to engage on issues that matter to them.

The research on crisis response consistently reinforces this. Brands that issue prompt and transparent responses during a crisis see statistically significant increases in consumer trust, while silence and denial are linked to decreased trust and prolonged reputational damage — effects that outlast the crisis itself. Meanwhile, corporate decisions to visibly take a stand during geopolitical crises are positively correlated with improved brand consideration and purchase intent, with the effect amplified for companies with strong prior reputations.

None of this means brands should rush to issue statements for their own sake. Even small gestures of solidarity — messages that acknowledge what consumers are living through — can meaningfully improve brand attitudes during geopolitical conflict, provided they are authentic and grounded in the brand’s existing identity. The distinction between authentic engagement and opportunistic positioning is one consumers recognize immediately. Only 27 per cent say their trust in a brand increases when it focuses solely on products and ignores the culture around it. The other 73 per cent are watching something else: how you show up when it costs you something.

With 87 per cent of shoppers willing to pay more for brands they trust, the economics of presence during a crisis are not ambiguous. Going dark is not a neutral position. It is a choice — and it is being priced accordingly.

Trust Is Not Built in Crisis. It Is Revealed by It

On March 7, HH Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan addressed the nation. He called citizens and residents family before he spoke of systems and defenses. Within days, his words were on car stickers, phone cases, shared in songs across the region. Not as propaganda — as genuine expression.

That is not PR. That is what happens when leadership and people are genuinely aligned over years, not manufactured in a moment.

The same dynamic plays out in markets. In 2024, 71 per cent of global consumers said they trusted companies less than they did a year before — an erosion driven not by any single scandal but by accumulated misalignment between what brands said and what they did. Research shows a significant gap: nearly 90 per cent of business executives believe customers trust their companies highly, while fewer than 30 per cent of consumers actually do. A crisis does not create that gap. It simply makes it impossible to ignore.

Dubai’s own resilience tells this story in economic terms. Even through geopolitical turbulence, the emirate recorded a 33 per cent increase in total FDI capital in 2024, while welcoming 18.7 million international visitors — up 9 per cent from the year before. That performance did not happen because investors suddenly decided Dubai was safe in February. It happened because the confidence had been constructed, methodically, over decades. When the moment of stress arrived, the foundation held.

Brand equity works the same way. The companies that came through the crisis with their reputations intact — or strengthened — were not the ones that responded most quickly. They were the ones that had already done the work: clear values, strong culture, internal alignment between what they said publicly and how they actually operated. Crisis revealed that preparation. It did not replace it.

Three Recalibrations for the Boardroom

Communicate before you’re certain. The instinct to wait for perfect information before speaking is understandable — and in a crisis, almost always wrong. Consumers in an uncertain environment are not looking for definitive answers from brands. They are looking for acknowledgment that the brand sees what they are living through. Waiting to speak until you have something comprehensive to say often means not speaking at all during the period when it matters most.

Know what you stand for before you need it. The trust gap between what executives believe about their companies and what consumers actually feel runs to nearly 60 percentage points. That gap is not closed by crisis communication. It is the result of chronic misalignment — between brand claims and operational reality, between public values and internal culture. The companies that showed up well during this crisis had built something worth showing up with.

The region’s resilience is a genuine business asset, not a talking point. The UAE’s non-oil sectors now contribute more than 75 per cent of national GDP — the result not of a single policy but of deliberate, sustained diversification over decades. This is a market that has structurally reduced its own fragility. Over 200 nationalities, different faiths, one shared decision to keep building — that social compact is real, and it matters to how business gets done here.

The Region Is the Argument

The brands that went silent in February are already back. Campaigns have resumed. Briefs are live again. The pause is being quietly forgotten — at least inside the organizations that called it.

It has not been forgotten by the people who noticed.

But there is a larger point that the silence obscured. This region — 200-plus nationalities, non-oil sectors now comprising more than three-quarters of UAE GDP, FDI up 33 per cent through geopolitical turbulence — is not a market that rewards caution. It was built by people who made a different calculation: that showing up, consistently and with conviction, was itself the competitive advantage.

That calculation has not changed. The brands that understand it — that treat this region’s resilience not as a backdrop but as the actual business case for being here — are the ones positioned to grow with it.

The morning after always comes. The question is whether you were building during the night, or waiting for daylight before you decided to commit.

The writer is Reda Raad, group CEO of TBWA\RAAD